The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday directed the Federal Government and other professional regulatory bodies to ensure strict compliance to building standards and use of quality of construction materials in order to Curb the incessant cases of collapse of buildings, bridges and other structural defects.
The Senate resolution was sequel to a motion initiated by Senator Abubakar Ohere ( APC Kogi Central ), on the urgent need for a Senate intervention to address the myriad cases of building collapse in the country which, the Senator attributed to lack and poor production quality, poor manpower and use of substandard materials due to the rising cost of reinforcement materials in the construction industry.
At the plenary presided by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio asked the Federal Government to urgently revive the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited in Kogi State, Nigerian iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe, the Delta Steel Company while urging the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN), Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to ensure proper supervision of workmen and to further carry out sensitization campaigns to enlighten the public on the need to use quality materials and professionals in the construction of buildings.
Ohere in the motion called attention of the Senate to the high increase in the prices of iron rods,cement, and steel bare also known as reinforcements and other building materials which has forced builders in the country to turn to the use of inferior materials.
The Kogi Senator explained the bid to beat the High cost of building materials and unqualified Engineers has led to structural failures in construction as the challenges of affordability has pushed some developers to resort to cutting cost by purchasing substandard materials which is resulting in the high spate of building collapse and other shoddy job execution in the country, noting that the situation that has now assumed a worrisome dimension as many lives are lost and huge investments wasted.
Urging the Federal Government to address the situation, the Senator noted that it is the responsibility of government at all levels to protect lives and properties, stressing that persons responsible for building collapse should be prosecuted according to the Law.
Throwing his weight behind the Motion, Senator Gbenga Daniel(Ogun-East) called for thorough investigation and trial of culpable persons to serve as a deterrent to others.
He added that beside other factors the lack of prosecution of persons responsible for building collapses in the country has given rise to the recurrent cases.
“In other countries when a person dies in a hospital a thorough investigation will be carried out and some anybody or person involved will be punished. The same should be done here in our country, when a building collapses those responsible should be punished, Gbenga said.
After an exhaustive debate on the motion, the Senate called on the Federal Government to explore modalities to reduce the price of building materials by liaising with stakeholders in the construction industry.
Equally in the Senate in its resolve urged the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to liaise with the Building Collapse Prevention Guild to carry out assessment of buildings prone to collapse by way of “Integrity Test’ of suspected structures in order to alert residents and avert the impending loss of lives and properties;
The Senate also mandated the Committees on Works and Housing, Solid Minerals, and Habitat (when constituted) to ensure implementation and report within six (6) weeks for further legislative action.
